This project builds on the foundation established by NSF Award No. 0226129, "ComPADRE: Communities for Physics and Astronomy Digital Resources in Education."
The NSDL program's "Pathways" projects closely coordinate their work with the Core Integration activity in the National Science Digital Library (http://nsdl.org) so as to assume a stewardship role on behalf of NSDL for the educational content and/or the services needed by a broad community of learners. The ComPADRE Pathway (www.compadre.org), as a steward for physics and astronomy resources in the NSDL, supports teachers and learners by providing both the content and services needed to enhance physics and astronomy education on the Web. ComPADRE is a network of Web-based content collections serving specific communities in physics and astronomy, including teachers of introductory courses at the high school or college levels, undergraduate physics and astronomy majors, researchers in physics education, societies of minority physicists, teachers and students in upper-level courses, and life-long learners. These collections, built by and for the communities, provide links to high-quality learning resources available on the Web and host resources that would not otherwise have a reliable Web presence. Resources in the collections are approved by editors before becoming available, are organized specifically for each community, and undergo a formal peer review process for some collections. Beyond content, these collections also provide tools that allow the community members to communicate, share resources, and learn from each other.
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), American Astronomical Society (AAS), American Physical Society (APS), and Society of Physics Students (SPS) are collaborating in this project as part of their mission to promote and sustain physics and astronomy and science education. The societies are connecting this project with their other education, mentoring, and outreach efforts.
Co-funding for this award is being provided by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in NSF's Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), in recognition of the value of this project for promoting the integration of research and education in physics and astronomy.
